First Meeting

It is an infamous Shakespearean quote, "Expectation is the root of all heartache", but it was a headache in this case, because Lucas had expected his alarm to wake him up at the right time and since the stupid clock couldn't do that, he was now late, cranky and super tired.

He didn't catch any sleep last night, pertaining to the fact that he was busy trying not to break down all over again.

It had taken so much effort, just to remind himself that Evan didn’t understand any of his guilt and unlike him, the baby had even forgotten what had happened.

Yet, Lucas kept stroking his younger brother’s peaceful sleeping face all night, wishing that he had someone better to take care of.

The raven haired called himself independent, but that was never really true, he was chained by his inner insecurities, which haunted him on a daily basis and he kept enduring it silently all this while, because he felt like he deserved that.

Every little stumble in his life was adding on to his emotional imbalance and it was getting harder and harder to keep himself sane.

As the daylight seeped in through the window, Lucas willed his body to move again, and somehow managed to slither out of bed, clutching his heavy head.

He was almost two hours late, which meant that there was no use hurrying to the university, he even contemplated bunking his class, but realized, that there was his assignment submission today.

He then groggily proceeded to get dressed in a plain black hoodie and denims, his wardrobe contained mostly all black outfits, with a few other dark colours here and there.

By the time he was done making breakfast, Evan woke up too and waddled towards Lucas, dragging his fluffy blanket along, as he pulled on the elder’s sweats, wanting to be carried.

The raven haired finally smiled when he noticed his sleepy brother and picked him up.

“Good morning Evy, aren’t you awake too early buddy, it is still 8 o clock.” The raven haired cooed at the snuggling toddler.

Kyle had readily asked him to take his day off from the café, so Lucas had planned to quickly finish his class and spend some quality time with Evan.

It had been a while since their last outing together too and the raven haired was in desperate need of a break.

He dressed and fed Evy, who was now wide awake and all energetic and jumpy again.

The duo then set off towards Austin’s apartment, drop the toddler until his class, and also ask if the elder was free to tag along with them.

When they neared the lift, Lucas bent forward to let Evan press the button on the elevator entry, since the little boy enjoyed doing that every time and squealed happily when it glowed red.

But even as Evy kept playing with the buttons, the lift didn’t open.

“It doesn’t work, I tried for like twenty minutes!” A deep voice huffed behind them and Lucas turned to face a brown-haired boy, who was in the middle of the staircase, struggling with a suitcase twice his size, with his back towards them.

“Do you perhaps, need help?” Lucas asked politely, as he put Evan down and walked closer to the boy, who was wearing a loose, pastel blue track suit.

“I would be extremely grateful if you could, I reached the wrong floor, so I’ll have to go downstairs again.” The boy panted, as he dragged the luggage closer and turned to look at him.

Lucas was surprised by the boy’s face for a moment, it was a total contrast to the deep voice, straight sharp features and soft hazel eyes that almost hid behind his matching, long brown waves.

“Here,” The boy stepped to the side a little, to make space for him.

Lucas wordlessly grabbed the handle from the other side and they both lifted it together down the remaining stairs.

“Why is there even a lift when it doesn’t work, how irresponsible, I’m sure this building has a stingy old man as an owner, who despises everyone that steps inside.” The boy spoke in an annoyed manner, flicking his wavy hair out of his eyes.

Lucas was in fact the owner of the building, but he felt like he shouldn’t tell the boy that.

“The interior is so confusing and huge on top of that, it’s almost as if they want the visitors to get lost, a very stingy old man thing to do, I reckon.” The boy kept on complaining, while shaking his head.

Lucas figured that the petite boy, was unaware that they were on top of an even more gigantic art gallery, he didn’t tell him that too, he wasn’t a fan of conversation.

They were almost on the last few steps when the boy suddenly squeaked in joy, as he caught sight of Evan, jumping on the square tiles.

“Oh my god, you’re so cute!” The brown-haired boy dropped the handle and skipped cheerfully towards the baby, suddenly leaving Lucas’s side, who almost collapsed from the sudden weight shift, but steadied himself.

What was he even carrying in the bag, it was so freaking heavy, Lucas thought and groaned as he pulled it down the left-over steps by himself, to glance at the totally distracted boy, squatting in front of a shy looking Evan.

“What is your name little baby?” The boy asked sweetly, with an encouraging smile and Lucas could tell, how Evan grew comfortable because of it.

“Evy.” The toddler spoke adorably and the boy clutched his heart in a dramatic way, as he let out incoherent squealing noises.

“I will give you a present because you’re such a cutie, I literally always have spare strawberries!” The boy happily ruffled in his sling bag, and removed a transparent box of chocolate covered strawberries, which made Evy excited as well.

Lucas only confusedly looked at the two of them, they looked pretty comfortable to be total strangers.

“Where are your parents? Is a stingy old man your grandpa?” The boy questioned Evy, who was busy munching on his choco.

“He’s, my brother.” Lucas finally spoke up, from behind, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Oh wow, you two do look similar!” The boy looked amazed, as he stood up and threw a dimpled smile at him.

“Thank you for helping me with the bag, you can have a strawberry too.” The brown haired delightedly offered to Lucas, as he retrieved his suitcase from the side.

The raven haired silently accepted the candy, not wanting to be rude, but actually ended up liking the unique sweet and tangy taste, it refreshed him.

Just then, the door to the apartment clicked open, and Austin came out hearing all the noise.

“What is going on? Oh Gus!?” Austin’s expression changed to surprised delight, as he noticed the brown haired and stepped forward to hug him.

Lucas raised his eyebrows in awe, while he watched how Austin greeted the boy so expressively, unlike his usual listless behaviour.

“I missed you, Tinny.” The boy smiled wide, and the raven haired found himself admiring the dimples that formed on the boy’s cheeks.

“I didn’t miss you at all, but come inside.” Austin teased making the boy role his eyes playfully.

The ginger head then finally noticed Lucas standing behind with Evy.

“Ah Luke, this is the new roommate I had told you about, Augustus, and Auggie, this is Lucas, my very good friend and the owner of the building.” Austin introduced formally and the boy called Augustus let out a small gasp, as he realized that the stingy old man that he kept scandalizing all this time, was actually the young, emo looking boy next to him.

“Hi Lucas.” The brown haired greeted sheepishly, with flushed cheeks, while internally cursing his loud mouth.

“Hello.” Lucas greeted back, with a small smile, a little amused at the seemingly embarrassed expressions on the boy’s face.

“Oh my! That means this cutie lives here too!” Augustus exclaimed quickly changing the topic and bent forward, lifting Evan in his arms, who happily giggled, as they headed inside, one by one.

The brown haired had only just arrived, but it amazed Lucas, at how he fit in so well, he observed it was a part of the boy’s vibrant personality, and it was a total contrast to his own zombie like self.

The nineteen-year-old exhaled a relieved sigh, as he felt his headache vanishing subsequently, and entered into Austin’s apartment, feeling a little different than before.

An addition of a new member, always meant things were about to change, and Lucas, who was often used to harsh changes, had never once imagined that this particular change, was the one he would grow to cherish the most.